


spark of something good

by armoredsoftie



Series: Iron Man Bingo 2019 [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, F/M, Genius!Pepper, PA!Tony, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-12-06 22:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18226157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/armoredsoftie/pseuds/armoredsoftie
Summary: Virginia Potts was a brilliant woman: innovative, creative, and an amazing leader. She could command a group of mediocre men into doing revolutionary things. She was a genius, and there was no one on Earth like her. She was also a huge asshole, and after almost five years of dealing with her bad decisions, sometimes Tony got tired of her.





	spark of something good

**Author's Note:**

> no one asked for this except me so this is exclusively self-indulgent.

Finding Miss Potts on that nightclub was proving to be a ridiculously difficult task. Tony walked between the sea of sweaty bodies that were jumping, rubbing against each other and generally engaging in weird movements that looked like dancing but were probably closer to the realm of fucking, trying to not get his immaculate suit dirty or lose his glasses in the process. A woman tried to grab him by the tie and drag him to her group of cheerful friends, but Tony politely freed himself and ran away from them as quickly as possible. He was sure more than one guy had gotten a good feel of his butt. He had never felt so out of place before.

God he hated his job.

By some sort of miracle, he spotted his boss, Virginia Potts, sitting by the bar. To say she was drunk out of her mind was an understatement. She was surrounded by two large men, one playing with her hair and the other petting her thighs. She didn’t seem to mind, more interested on chugging another glass of vodka soda. Tony approached the group, alarmed.

“Eh- excuse me?” he asked, hesitant. One of the men turned to him, looked at him from top to bottom, and raised an eyebrow. The other men ignored him, concentrated on his task of raising Virginia’s skirt even more. Tony cleared his throat, trying to at least appear to have his shit together. “Excuse me,” he repeated, louder this time. “I need to talk to Miss. Potts. Immediately.”

The groping man turned his attention to him, clearly irritated.

“Can’t you see we’re busy, punk?”

_Fuck_ those men were huge. Tony seriously needed a raise. And maybe a new pair of nice shoes. He stood his ground anyway.

“It’s important,” he insisted, and poked Virginia on the shoulder, trying to catch her attention. She turned to look at him, annoyed, and took a couple of seconds to recognize his face. Then, she smiled, delighted.

“ _Tooooonny_!” she said, slurring her words. She detangled herself from the two men in a very easy movement, but almost fell flat to her face. Tony rushed to help her get on her feet. She smiled even more, and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Oh, have you come to rescue me?”

Tony glanced back at the two men behind her, nervous.

“Miss Potts, it’s 4 am. We have to be at the airport in half an hour.”

She didn’t seem to care much, judging by the way she was touching his chest and muttering to herself.

“Have you been working out? You have some strong muscles there, honey.”

Tony tried very hard not to blush. The men behind them were getting impatient. He maneuvered Virginia behind him and turned around, taking out a couple of hundred bucks from his jacket’s pocket.

“Here,” he said, and put the money in one of the guy’s hands. “This is for your troubles.”

He didn’t wait for a reply and marched towards the exit, maneuvering Virginia in his arms. She looked like she had no idea what what happening, because she kept petting his chest in almost reverence and babbling nonsense. Tony reached the club’s doors where Happy was waiting for them, looking impatient. He helped Tony bring Virginia into the car, and then got into the driver seat and started the car. They drove away into the streets, on their way to the airport.

Now sitting safely in the back of the car, Tony allowed himself to relax a little. He couldn’t let his guard down completely: Miss Potts was still drunk and she was very volatile. On normal days, she was a high functional alcoholic. But for some reason she had chosen that particular night to get more drunk than ever before.

Speaking of Virginia, she was sitting next to him on the car, with her legs curled up underneath her, and looking at him fixedly.

“What?” asked Tony, tired of her. She was a brilliant woman: innovative, creative, and an amazing leader. She could command a group of mediocre men into doing revolutionary things. She was a genius, and there was no one on Earth like her. She was also a huge asshole, and after almost five years of dealing with her bad decisions, sometimes Tony got tired of her.

Virginia tilted her head to the side, like a curious puppy.

“You look really cute tonight,” she said, unashamed. Tony felt his face heating, and distracted himself cleaning his glasses.

“That’s really inappropriate, Miss Potts,” he answered instead. She snorted.

“I’ve told you to call me Pepper.”

“And I’ve told you that’s not part of my job.”

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds. She seemed amused, like she was testing him. Tony considered himself a smart man, but sometimes she looked at him with such sharpness in her eyes that he couldn’t help but feel like a lab rat, trapped inside a maze designed by a crazy scientist. He yielded first, dropping his eyes to his lap.

When he looked up back again, she had lost some of her cheerfulness.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Back to Malibu. You have an important board meeting tomorrow,” answered Tony, shuffling papers on his lap and putting his glasses back on. “I have the presentation you asked me to revise. The numbers are good, but the estimate-”

“Why do I have to go?” interrupted him Virginia, childish. Tony blinked at her. She was still so drunk.

“Because you’re the CEO. And renewable energy is your baby project.”

She dropped her chin to her hands, resting them on her legs. She smiled at him.

“It’s your baby too. I couldn’t do this without you.”

Tony felt warm on his chest at the recognition. He nodded. “Well, the presentation is ready.”

Virginia kept staring at him, in a very intense but gentle way. Tony felt naked and shy. Then she turned to the window, seemingly satisfied with her scrutiny of him.

“You can sleep in the plane,” whispered Tony, and turned to look at the other window. “I’ll take care of you.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr


End file.
